CROSSWORDS

GIVE YOUR BRAIN SOME EXERCISE

VISUAL SIDE

Eskom is once again implementing load shedding, which means that parts of South Africa may be without electricity from time to time. What exactly is going on at the power utility and what led to load shedding being implemented again?

SNAPSHOT

Another one
Police Forensics on the scene of a cash in transit heist on the Jakes Gerwel road in Athlone, Cape Town, on Monday.
Image:
Esa Alexander

Six things about SA you need to know

Denel finance boss on special leave

Denel’s group chief financial officer has been placed on special leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary process‚ the state-owned enterprise said on Monday. Spokesperson Vuyelwa Qinga said the development came amid the company’s investigation of “serious allegations of misconduct” against Odwa Mhlwana. The company will interview Mhlwana’s colleagues about the allegations, hence him being placed on leave. The disciplinary process is expected to be completed by the end of July. “Since its appointment two months ago‚ the Denel board has been approached by various whistle-blowers presenting a number of allegations of serious misconduct against Mr Mhlwana and a few other senior employees of Denel; which still need to be verified before any action can be taken against anyone,” said Qinga.

Speeder jailed over death of Top Billing presenter

A motorist convicted of causing the deaths of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere and his passenger‚ Kady-Shay O’Bryan‚ was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on Monday. Mhere‚ 26‚ was an up-and-coming television presenter. O’Bryan‚ 29‚ was the mother of a four-year-old girl. On January 31 2015‚ Mhere was driving north on William Nicol Drive and was about to take the off-ramp to OR Tambo Airport when a car slammed into them. His father‚ Joseph‚ who was also in the car‚ survived the crash. Magistrate David Mahango said road users were tired of reckless drivers and expected the courts to deal with them and protect their rights by imposing appropriate sentences.

Another Kuga catches fire on Joburg highway

A Ford Kuga burst into flames near the London Road off-ramp on the N3 near Alexandra in Sandton on Monday. “One of the guys from Ford had taken the car for a test drive‚” said police spokesman Captain Granville Meyer. “The car suddenly set alight on its own.” Pictures and videos of the fire show the car parked in the yellow lane. The bonnet is in flames. Meyer said the driver was not injured. It was previously reported that Ford SA had recalled 4‚556 of the vehicles in January 2017‚ by which time almost 50 had had what the company called “thermal incidents”. The company said failures in the cars’ coolant systems had caused them to overheat and catch alight.

Pilot critical after KZN Midlands crash

A pilot is fighting for his life in a Durban hospital after a light aircraft ploughed into the side of a mountain in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Monday morning. The pilot of the light aircraft‚ which had been spraying crops in the agricultural zone‚ was trapped in the twisted wreckage for well over an hour. IPSS Medical Rescue spokesman Paul Herbst said local paramedics used hydraulic rescue tools to cut the man from the wreckage. He was stabilised on the scene before being airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

R250m ‘unused’ school will open in Joburg

Gauteng’s MEC for infrastructure development has given an assurance that a state-of-the-art school for children with special needs will finally be occupied from the second semester of 2018. The Nokuthula Centre and Special School in Lyndhurst‚ Johannesburg‚ has been unoccupied since late 2017. Times Select reported on Monday that the Gauteng portfolio committee on infrastructure development was demanding to know why the school had remained a “white elephant” for months. The MEC‚ Jacob Mamabolo‚ explained that his department was responsible for the completion of the school and had already issued an occupancy certificate. As a result, the pupils “will be able to relocate to the school next semester”. The school cost the state R248,159,795 to build, and is meant to bridge an educational gap that pupils with special needs experience in schools that do not cater for their abilities.

Cape urged to continue saving water

Umbrellas are back in demand in the Western Cape where recent rains have seen average dam levels in the province rise to above 30% for the first time in months. The latest dam statistics released on Monday showed a healthy increase in both Cape Town’s catchment dams and others across the province‚ thanks to a series of cold fronts bringing significant rain over the past month. More rain is forecast for the coming weeks. However, local government‚ environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell cautioned residents to continue saving water until dam levels had returned to normal. More rain and cold fronts were expected in the “coming weeks”.

SNAPSHOT

Life's a beach
A man walks along a beach, against the backdrop of Colombo's Financial City in Sri Lanka.
Image:
Reuters/ Dinuka Liyanawatte

SIX THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD YOU NEED TO KNOW

Murderer claims he is too sick to be killed

After two recent botched US executions of inmates with compromised veins, a convicted murderer and rapist is arguing he is too ill to be put to death by lethal injection in Texas this month. Lawyers for Danny Bible, a 66-year-old inmate set to be executed on June 27, said in a federal court filing that his health and vein access were worse than inmates in Alabama and Ohio whose executions were called off after IV placements failed. The cases have capital punishment critics questioning whether justice is served by executing a person convicted of horrific crimes but who is now too weak or sick to be considered a threat. - Reuters

Third of Brit firms say no to transgender staff

Fewer than one in five British employers have an inclusive policy towards transgender staff and only 9% believe in legal protection against discrimination, according to the study by Crossland Employment Solicitors. They surveyed 1,000 executives involved in recruitment at a range of organisations involved in a mix of different sectors in Britain. Only 4% said transgender people would “fit in” to their workplace, and 34% said they would be less likely to hire a transgender person. About 41% of transgender people in Britain experienced a hate crime in 2017, according to the charity Stonewall, which advocates for LGBT rights. - Reuters

Snooping nurse shown the door

A nosy nurse has been struck off for spying on the health problems of thousands of people by illegally tapping into their personal medical records over two years on late shifts. Hospital ward nurse Elaine Lewis, 63, secretly looked into the records of 3,000 patients "for her own interest", a hearing was told. Health chiefs wrote to apologise to hundreds of patients when the "significant data breach" was discovered. Bosses at Glangwili General Hospital, in Carmarthen, west Wales, discovered that Lewis had illegally delved into the medical histories of patients of all ages. A fitness to practice hearing in Cardiff heard her hospital colleagues feared Lewis would end up "killing somebody" by neglecting her duty. - The Daily Telegraph

Japan to fall off perch, says psychic parrot

Japan’s hopes of winning their opening World Cup fixture on Tuesday have been written off before a ball has been kicked - by a chirpy parrot believed to possess psychic powers. The grey-feathered tipster called Olivia, who lives at Nasu Animal Kingdom in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, predicted that Colombia would beat Group H rivals Japan when they face off in Russia, local media reported on Monday. Olivia, one of several animal psychics to have taken on the extra work in recent years, plucked a tiny Colombia flag with its beak and handed it to a zookeeper after briefly flirting with a third flag that represented a draw, according to Japan’s Sankei News. - AFP

Eid balloons fly into a storm of trouble

Indonesians caught launching big, unmanned hot-air balloons could face up to two years in jail or a fine of up to $35,000, authorities said, after balloons launched to celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month forced pilots to divert flights. Balloons, along with fireworks have long been part of festivities like Eid in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, but with modern materials and designs they have become much bigger. Some are up to 10m in diameter and more than 20m high, the transportation ministry said on Monday. - Reuters

Game over: screen addiction is a mental disorder

Many parents will have thought it for a long time, but they now have a new argument to limit their children’s “screen time”: addiction to video games has been recognised by World Health Organisation as a mental health disorder. The WHO’s latest reference bible of recognised and diagnosable diseases describes addiction to digital and video gaming as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” that becomes so extensive that it “takes precedence over other life interests”. The International Classification of Diseases, which has been updated over the past 10 years, now covers 55,000 injuries, diseases and causes of death. It forms a basis for the WHO and other experts to see and respond to trends in health. - Reuters